Butter molding and printing machine.



F. MELLISH. BUTTER MOLDING AND PRINTING MAOHINB.

' APPLICATION FILED noviz, 1908, 932,043. Patented Aug. 24. 1909. 2SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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' I. MELLISH.

BUTTER MOLDING AND PRINTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 2, 1908.

982,043. Patented Aug. 24, 1909.

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UNITED STATES PATENT FFIQE,

FRANK MELLISH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BUTTER MOLDING AND PRINTING MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK MELLIsH, citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Butter Molding andPrinting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention comprehends certain new and useful improvements in buttermolding and printing machines, and the invention has for-its object, amachine of this character which will be simple and durable inconstruction, and efficient in operation, and which will be sanitary inthat the butter may be removed from the firkin or tub and passed throughthe machine and molded and printed in the desired size and with thedesired impression and discharged into a receptacle, without beingtouched by the hand of the operator.

The invention also has for its object an improved apparatus of thischaracter which will be economical in that it will save ice, as thebutter passes through a tube in the machine and may be thereby hardenedwith less consumption of ice than in a tub; and a furtherobject of theinvention is a machine of this character which will save labor, in thatthe butter may be formed into pats or cakes more quickly than by theordinary hand process, and which will produce pats of a uniform size,although it is to be'understood that the invention is susceptible toadjustment, both as to the depth or size of pats that it is desired toform, as well as the shape thereof, and the print or impression thereon.

With these and other objects in view, as will more fully appear, as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists in certain constructions,arrangements, and combinations of the parts that I shall fully describe,and claim.

For a full understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to thefollowing description and accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is aside elevation of a butter molding and printing machine constructed inaccordance with my invention, the face part of the casing being omitted,and the supply tube being partially broken away; Fig. 2

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 24, 1909.

Application filed November 2, 1908.

Serial No. 460,764.

is a front elevation thereof; Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view ofthe lower portion of the machine; Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional viewthrough the upper end or head of the machine; Fig. 5 is a perspectiveView illustrating the actuating devices for the printing member; and,Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the printing device.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawingsby the same reference characters.

The supporting framework of this improved butter molding and printingmachine, comprises a base 1, a casing 2 mounted upon said base, and astandard 3 extending upwardly from said casing and provided at its upperend with a forwardly projecting head 4. A bracket 5 projects forwardlyfrom the casing 2, which is preferably formed as an integral part, saidbracket being formed with an opening 5 in which the mold 6 fits, themold being preferably formed with two dowels 7 designed to be secured inrecesses 8 in the bracket, so as to securely hold the mold in place.

The mold G is preferably formed with an upstanding marginal rim 6 inwhich the lower end of a butter tube 9 fits, the said tube beingsupported at its lower end on the mold and being provided at its upperend with a transversely extending plate 9 This plate is formed with arearwardly projecting pin 10 adapted to be inserted through an opening11 formed in a bracket plate 12 secured to the ears l3 projectingforwardly from the standard 3 as clearly illustrated in the drawing. Aclutch 14 is designed to hold the pin 10 after it is inserted in theopening 11, so as to securely hold the tube 9, at its upper end.

15 designates a plunger in the form of a rack bar which is mounted inthe tube 9 and which is provided at its lower end with a plate or head16 designed to force the butter downwardly into the tube and out throughthe bottom opening, of the mold 6. The plunger 16 is guided in itsvertical movement by being received in a recess formed in the head 4,the teeth of the plunger facing rearwardly, as shown, and the plungerbeing held removably in position by means of a latch 17 or the like. Theteeth of the plunger 15 mesh with the teeth of a spur gear 18 that ismounted on a transversely extended shaft 19 journaled in the head 4 ofthe standard. The shaft 19 carries at one end a ratchet wheel 20 whichis provided with a handle 21 so that it may be manually actuated. Theratchet wheel 20 is engaged by a pawl 22 swung from a lug on the head 4for the purpose of preventing any back movement of the ratchet wheelduring the operation of the machine, and the said ratchet is alsoengaged by a push pawl 23 carried by a lever 24 fulcrumed at one end onthe shaft 19. The other end of the lever 24 is connected by a pitman 25with a vertically disposed crosshead 26 extending down into the casing 2and carrying a roller 28 which is designed to be engaged by a cam 29 onthe transversely extending drive shaft 27, the said shaft being journaled in the casing and preferably projecting therefrom at each end.A spring 30 encircles the cross-head 26 and exerts a tension thereon toswing the lever 24 downwardly after it has been pushed upwardly throughthe instrumentality of the cam 29.

In order to limit the downward movement of the lever 24 and thecrosshead 26 at different points, and consequently to vary the number ofteeth engaged by the pawl 23 at each actuation for the purpose ofvarying the movement of the plunger 15, an abutment 31 in the form of aslotted plate is secured to the cross-head 26 and is held at differentvertical adjustments by means of a set screw, as shown, so as to engagewith the top side of the casing 2. By this means, it is evident that themovement of the plunger at each actuation may be varied and pats ofdifierent sizes secured.

The base 1 is formed within the casing 2 with spaced ears 32, and a rockshaft 33 is journaled insaid ears to turn about its longitudinal axis.The said shaft is provided at one end with a crank 34, the said crankcarrying a wrist pin 35 which is parallel to the shaft 33. A sleeve isslipped over and held upon the wrist pin 35, sa1d sleeve carrying twoforwardly projecting arms 36 that are mounted to slide throughlongitudinal openings formed in the front of the casing. A wire 38 isstretched from one arm 36 to the other and passes through openings inthe forward free end of said arms. The said wire being held undertension by screws secured to the arms and serving as a cutter for thebutter which protrudes through the opening in the bottom of the mold 6.In orderto reciprocate said arms 36 to cut the butter, the shaft 33 isprovided with another crank 39, the last named crank being secured by apitman 40 to a crosshead 41 that straddles the drive shaft 27, and thatcarries a roller 42 designed to be engaged by a cam 43 on said driveshaft. This crosshead is provided with an arm which projects upwardlythrough an opening formed in the top of the casing 2 so as to beproperly guided in its movement. The crosshead is raised by theengagement of the cam 43 with the roller 42 so as to project the cutter38 forwardly across the bottom of the mold 6; a positive movement of theparts being effected by means of a spring 44 which is coiled around theshaft 33, and which has one end bearing against the wall of the casing,while its other end engages a crank 39 to pull it downwardly.

A vertically disposed rod 45 is mounted for both a rotary and verticallysliding movement at the front of the casing, the upper end of said rodbeing mounted in a bracket 46 projecting from the front wall of thecasing, the lower end of said rod passing downwardly through an openingformed in the bracket 5. The rod 45 is held under tension at the lowerlimit of its movement by means of a coil spring 47, as clearlyillustrated in the drawing. This rod 45 is provided with a laterallyprojecting pin 48 and with another pin 49 projecting at right angles tothe pin 48. The pin 48 is designed to be struck by' a shoulder 50 of acam 51 which is secured to the forwardly projecting end of the driveshaft 27, said shoulder serving to give a quarter turn to the rod 45 soas to spring the pin 49 into avertically disposed slide formed in aplate 52, secured to the front wall of the casing 2. The pin 49, as itworks in the head of the plate 52 serves to guide the rod 45 for an upand down movement only as it is subsequently engaged by the cam surfacea, b and 0 of the cam 51. The rod 45 carries at its lower end ahorizontally disposed arm 53 which is provided with aplaten 54 of anydesired impression. The said arm being held at different verticaladjustments on the lower end of the rod 45 by means of a set screw 55.

In the practical operation of this im proved butter molding and printingmachine, after the desired mold is secured in the bracket 5, and a tube9 with butter in it mounted on the mold is secured in place, as beforedescribed, the plunger 15 is positioned in the tube and held with itsteeth engaging the gear wheel 18. As the drive shaft 27 is turned, as bythe hand wheel 56 or any other equivalent means, the first step in theoperation is performed by the shoulder 50 and cam 51 engaging the pin 48which turns the rod 45 in the direction to carry the printing device orarm 53 underneath the mold 6. In the continued movement of the cam 51,the cam surface a first engages the pin 49 in the head of the plate 52and pushes the printing plate up to make the first impression, and thenimmediately releases. The second cam surface then pushes the printingdevice up just a little farther and releases, and finally the camsurface 0 pushes the printing device to the extreme high point and thenallows the spring t7 to push the rod clownwardly so as to carry theprinting device out of the way of the butter which is subsequently cutOE and which falls from the mold (5 into a pan of water underneath thesame. These repeated act-ions of the printing device striking the buttera number of times has been found to insure a good impression. After thebutter has been impressed with the desired design, as just described,the continued rotation of the drive shaft 27 brings its cam 29 intoengagement with the roller 28 and serves to swing the lever 2d upwardlyso as to turn the ratchet 20 and its shaft 19, and through theinstrumentality of the gear wheel 18, forces the plunger 15 downwardlyto the predetermined extent so as to cause the printed end of the columnof butter to protrude the desired distance below the bottom of the mold,and the final step in the operation is efiected by the subsequentmovement of the cam 43, which by engagement with the crank 39 rocks theshaft 33 in a direction to slide the arms 36 outwardly, the wire orcutter 38 being thus passed across the bottom of the mold so as to slicethe protruding portion of the butter, the pat thus formed dropping intoa receptacle as above mentioned. The printing device then again comesinto operation, and the other steps are performed in the proper order.After the contents of the supply tube 9 have been exhausted, the plunger15 may be easily run up to the upper limit of its movement by the manualactuation of the ratchet wheel 20, and the pawls 22 and 23 thrown intoan inoperative position.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is l. Abutter molding machine, comprising a supporting framework, a moldsupported thereby, means for forcing the butter into and through themold, a rod carried by said framework and movable rotatably andlongitudinally, pins projecting radially from said rod at right anglesto each other, a printing arm carried by said rod, a cam formed with ashoulder and arranged to engage one of said pins to give the rod aquarter turn, a plate secured to the framework and having a slot inwhich the other pin is brought into registry upon such quarter turn, thecam being arranged to strike said last named pin to move the rodlongitudinally, and a drive shaft upon which said rod is mounted.

2. A butter molding and printing machine, a framework carried thereby,means for forming the butter into a mold, a longitudinally and rotatablymovable rod carried by the framework, a printing arm secured to said rodand a spring encircling said rod and arranged to turn the same in onedirection, and means for automatically moving said rod rotatably in theopposite direction, and means for moving it longitudinally independentof said spring, as and for the purpose specified.

In a machine as specified, the combination of a framework, a moldlaterally disposed on said framework, a tube positioned above said moldon said framework, a plunger carried by said framework and depended intosaid tube, a pawl and ratchet mechanism connected to said plunger forintermittently adjusting the same, a pitman depended from saidmechanism, a drive shaft journaled in the lower end of said framework, acam carried by said drive shaft for raising said pitman to actuate saidplunger, arms extended laterally from said framework, a wire engagedacross the ends of said arms beneath said mold, a crosshead mounted onsaid drive shaft, a cam on said drive shaft for engagement with saidcrosshead, means connected between said crosshead and said arms formoving saidwire when said cam is actuated and a printing device mountedon said framework to swing laterally and upwardly to engage the bottomof said mold, said printing device being connected to said drive shaftto be actuated thereby.

at. A machine as specified comprising a frame, a mold on said frame, atube on said frame over said mold, a plunger mounted in said tube, apawl and ratchet mechanism carried by said frame for actuating saidplunger, a drive shaft in the lower end of said frame, a pitmanconnected to said mechanism adapted to be actuated by said shaft, armsslidably disposed on said frame beneath said mold, a wire stretchedacross said arms for cutting material from said mold, a crank shaftconnected to said arms for reciprocating the same, a rock shaft on saidframe for supporting said crank shaft, a second crank shaft on said rockshaft, a crosshead on said drive shaft, a lever disposed between saidcrosshead and said second crank shaft, a cam on said drive shaft toactuate said crosshead, a cam positioned upon the end of said driveshaft adj acent said mold, a rod centrally and slidably positioned onsaid frame, pins carried by said rod for engagement with said camadjacent said mold and a platen carried by said rod for engagementagainst the bottom of said mold upon the actuation of said rod by saidcam of the end of said drive shaft.

5. In a machine as specified, the combina tion of a frame, a plasticmolding mechanism on said frame, a cutting mechanism on said frame, aprinting mechanism disposed on said frame and a drive shaft mounted onsaid frame, said drive shaft being connectto said platen a movement inangular rela- 10 ed to all of said mechanisms and adapted to tion to thefirst named movement upon the operate the same. Withdrawal of the platenfrom said mold.

6. A machine as specified having a mold, In testimony whereof I affix mysignature 3 a platen adjacent said mold to imprint main presence of twoWitnesses. terial Within the same, means for imparting FRANK MELLISH. [ns] a reciprocating movement to said platen to- Vitnesses:

ward and from said mold in the line of the CUTHBERT SGI-IAEFER, axis ofsaid mold and means for imparting l ALEXANDER D. ELLIOTT.

